Ambekar arrested in fresh case of property grabbing

NAGPUR: City police continue to tighten the screw on gangster-turned-real estate dealer Santosh Ambedkar who was on Thursday arrested in a fresh case of alleged property grabbing. Ambekar, produced before the magisterial court on Friday along with two others, has been remanded to police custody till February 17.

Offences of extortion, theft, threatening and other charges have been registered at Ambazari police station earlier this week against Sanjay Fatode, Dilip Dakah, Udaybhan Upadhyay, his son Rahul and others following a complaint from Parag Gondhalekar. Fatode, who had been a co-accused of Ambekar in another case, was arrested after Gondhalekar filed his complaint now being probed by crime branch. Apart from Ambekar, Dakah and Fatode too have been remanded to police custody till February 17.

Following Fatode's interrogation, Ambekar's name was also included among the accused in the latest case. Ambekar, already in magisterial custody, was rearrested by crime branch team of PI Avinash Shilimkar working under supervision of ACP GM Sakharkar and additional CP Sunil Kolhe.

Sources claimed Ambekar used to frequent the office of the Sanjay Construction being set up by Fatode and his group at the premises owned by Gondhalekar, a non-resident Indian, at Shraddhanand Peth. Police feel that Ambekar too was part of the conspiracy to forcibly occupy premises owned by the Gondhalekars by creating a fake rent agreement with the help of caretaker Udaybhan and Rahul. The Gondhalekars were threatened and asked to leave the premises when they tried to intervene.

The crime branch, under city police chief KK Pathak and joint CP Sanjay Saxena, is learnt to have initiated probes in several other complaints against Ambekar and his accomplices involved in forcible property grabbing and extortion. A senior city police official stated that any citizen having grievances against Ambekar and his gang should come forward with complaint.

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MUMBAI: While developers and financial institutions believe that the present residential and office markets are weaker they were six months ago, they are optimistic that the next six months would see a change.

MUMBAI: Property markets, including the National Capital Region and Mumbai Metropolitan Region, have got worse than they were in the last six months and the current mood is pessimistic across all zones, showed the maiden real estate sentiment index jointly developed by industry body Ficci and Knight Frank India, a residential and commercial property consultancy.

MUMBAI: The past decade has seen the Indian real estate industry ride on a roller coaster ride through many highs and lows. This period has seen the expansion fury which gripped the sector with the market peaking in 2006 -2007 characterized by a growth in demand, substantial development and increased foreign investments. By mid-2008, this fervour was replaced by cautious evaluation of business models and plans, which was the key agenda of the business houses when the market loomed large with unc